So the battle is joined. The Bush administration claims "executive privilege" and refuses to supply documents related to the firing of federal prosecutors. (This, by the way, is the ninth time the White House has refused to send documents to Congress.)
''Increasingly, the president and vice president feel they are above the law,'' said Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. He portrayed the president's actions as ''Nixonian stonewalling.''
No question the reference to Nixon was apt. In fact, following Nixon administration ethics would actually be a step up for this administration.
This is only the beginning. What I expect will happen is that the Justice Department won't enforce the subpeona. The primary object of the investigation, after all, is the Attorney General. Gonzalez will always act to protect Bush. It's his life's work.
Then, it will go to the Supreme Court where Scalia, Roberts, Alito, and Roberts will automatically side with the administration, as they always do. The fate of the republic could well hang with Anthony Kennedy. He sided with Bush in Bush v. Gore, which means he was willing to stain the reputation of the Supreme Court once. I don't see why he wouldn't do it again.
After that, the only other remedy is impeachment. The administration is betting, first, that the Democrats don't have the stomach for it, and, in that, they well may be mistaken. The American people will demand it. If I were in Congress, heading into an election year, I would not want to be known as a Bush supporter, no matter what party I was in. Republicans are already jumping ship.
The administration's back-up plan is to delay, delay, delay, and try to run out the clock before the process is completed. They need to hang on for another year. After that, we're into the final stages of the election campaign and the question starts to become moot.
Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night.
